Wish upon a Ribbon :
Or maybe it's a case of pure Ribbon Ecstacy! Picture this- when we received our President's Distinguished Club ribbon, the envelope and letter arrived, but NO ribbon ! We are talking about a mere weeks before our Special DCP Celebratory Spring Dinner on 16 Sept. So both Colin (previous President) and myself sent urgent emails to World HQ and the District Gov, respectively. The internal gears of this great International organisation started grinding. So, just guess what happened next? During the afternoon before the dinner, 2 envelopes arrived at Colin and my own mailboxes, containing a ribbon each !!! So, in Protea TC first year of taking part in DCP programme, we achieved no fewer than 2 (yes, TWO) Pres Dist Club ribbons!!
Oh yeah, baby, life is as sweet as a Langkloof watermelon!! Needless to say, only one ribbon was subsequently stitched to our club banner (temptation did not get the better of me, in case you are wondering).
Delivery of that ribbon was effected a touch to close to the finals. But then (to quote an Unknown Author) -"it it was'nt for the last minute, nothing would get done".
So where does that leave us , now that the party is behind us and the 2007/8 ribbon is attached to the Protea TC banner? It leaves us in very much the same position as it did Tia Hellebaut and Andrey Silnov. Yes, fellow Protea Toastmasters, they won gold in womens/mens high jump at the Beijing Olympics. What do they do when they have achieved a personal goal? They RAISE THE BAR !! And that, dear fellow Protea Toastmasters, is what we need to do with immediate effect. We need to forget about the previous ribbon, RAISE THE BAR and strive to improve and get even better. Whether you are a member of the Protea leadership team or a club member of ancient or recent standing, you need to ask yourself WHY you have joined Toastmasters? Re-visit your own personal reasons/goals and take a minute to "tick your own personal check-list".
Very very few people are happy if they discover they still do/experience/am the same as they were 1, 5, 10 years ago. It is in our human nature to want to keep growing, improving and experiencing new things otherwise boredom robs us of the joys of life.
And so we reach the exact same moment and choice as Tia and Andrey did. What to do, what to do……….? Personal development and aspirations require that you raise your own bar.
Read the latest edition of the BKCOB Hi-Lite magazine where Mike Hendrikse wrote an article about his first visit to a Toastmasters Club. I have no doubt that Mike's very positive
article will convince a few visitors to visit Protea TC for a look-see-decide about whether to join or not. Should they join, then it effectivly means that they are challenging themselves to
try what is considered to be a very scary decison-to try their hand at public speaking! The other side of the coin means that current Protea TC members need to upskilll themselves into being mentors, setting an example to newcomers by regularly doing speech projects i.e. RAISING THEIR OWN BAR !
After all, as human beings we were all blessed with endless possibilities and potential, why waste any of it by NOT raising our own personal bar by a centimetre or more? I know Tia and Andrey would have!
Let's create memorable conversations.
Derek Myburgh
President : Protea TC
Oh yeah, baby, life is as sweet as a Langkloof watermelon!! Needless to say, only one ribbon was subsequently stitched to our club banner (temptation did not get the better of me, in case you are wondering).
Delivery of that ribbon was effected a touch to close to the finals. But then (to quote an Unknown Author) -"it it was'nt for the last minute, nothing would get done".
So where does that leave us , now that the party is behind us and the 2007/8 ribbon is attached to the Protea TC banner? It leaves us in very much the same position as it did Tia Hellebaut and Andrey Silnov. Yes, fellow Protea Toastmasters, they won gold in womens/mens high jump at the Beijing Olympics. What do they do when they have achieved a personal goal? They RAISE THE BAR !! And that, dear fellow Protea Toastmasters, is what we need to do with immediate effect. We need to forget about the previous ribbon, RAISE THE BAR and strive to improve and get even better. Whether you are a member of the Protea leadership team or a club member of ancient or recent standing, you need to ask yourself WHY you have joined Toastmasters? Re-visit your own personal reasons/goals and take a minute to "tick your own personal check-list".
Very very few people are happy if they discover they still do/experience/am the same as they were 1, 5, 10 years ago. It is in our human nature to want to keep growing, improving and experiencing new things otherwise boredom robs us of the joys of life.
And so we reach the exact same moment and choice as Tia and Andrey did. What to do, what to do……….? Personal development and aspirations require that you raise your own bar.
Read the latest edition of the BKCOB Hi-Lite magazine where Mike Hendrikse wrote an article about his first visit to a Toastmasters Club. I have no doubt that Mike's very positive
article will convince a few visitors to visit Protea TC for a look-see-decide about whether to join or not. Should they join, then it effectivly means that they are challenging themselves to
try what is considered to be a very scary decison-to try their hand at public speaking! The other side of the coin means that current Protea TC members need to upskilll themselves into being mentors, setting an example to newcomers by regularly doing speech projects i.e. RAISING THEIR OWN BAR !
After all, as human beings we were all blessed with endless possibilities and potential, why waste any of it by NOT raising our own personal bar by a centimetre or more? I know Tia and Andrey would have!
Let's create memorable conversations.
Derek Myburgh
President : Protea TC
posted by Protea Toastmasters Club at
Monday, September 29, 2008
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